8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown

From Countdown

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown is a programme of special episodes that first began on 2 January 2012 and has aired during irregular times of the year ever since.

The show was originally shown as part of a "Mash-Up" series celebrating Channel 4's 30th birthday in 2012. The show is a fusion of the shows, Countdown and 8 out of 10 Cats. It has so far had 96 shows broadcast as of 2018, and following the success of the first two episodes, eight episodes were commissioned by Channel 4 in June 2013, starting off with 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 1.

The rules are similar to that of Countdown (Albeit there have been instances where these have not been observed due to various reasons), usually consist of seven to eight rounds as most of the show consists of comedic and anecdotal acts and runs for 45 minutes as opposed to the former where it runs for 35 minutes. The scores for each round can deviate from the usual maximum for various reasons as well (E.g. A Numbers Round may be worth 20 Points instead of 10 and a Conundrum Round may be worth whatever the difference the opponent team needs to win instead of the usual 10.)

The show originally gave away Teapots for the players on the winning team, however since 2015 they have deviated from that and have started to give away props with the abbreviation "The Countdown" in front of whatever the team will win, with the two male models (One of which is famously known as Fabio) introducing it before Round 1.

Overall, the programme has been a success over the years and has continued ever since, with the most recent series finishing in February 2018.